Chapter 3
~ Meetings ~
"The big game's tomorrow, isn't it?" Lily asked, smiling shyly, and looking up at the tall boy leaning on the bookshelf. "You guys against Gryffindor?"
"You bet," Casey answered. "You going to be there?"
"Of course," Lily said, the smile not leaving her face.
"And who, as an esteemed member of Ravenclaw, are you going to root for?" Crane said, a cocky smile across his face.
"I don't know, really," she said. "I have a good friend in Gryffindor who wants me to help him root them on."
"But you don't know anyone on their team," Casey said, his hands waving around. "Those Gryffs, they're just hotheads, you know."
"Some would say that about you Slytherins," Lily said, turning and walking out of the library.
"Who says that?" he asked.
"Well, Gryffindors, for one," Lily answered.
"Funny, coming from a bunch of hotheads," Casey replied.
Lily giggled. She couldn't help it.
Casey rubbed his chin and looked down at her. "Hey, how about a deal, here," he said at last. "How about, if I take you to the Slytherin common room? I could let you meet the guys, and, if by the end of the night, you're not convinced to root for Slytherin, I promise I'll root for Ravenclaw the rest of the season. Except, of course when they play us."
Lily looked down at the ground. "I don't know," she said quietly. "I promised a friend I would meet–"
"Blow it off!" Casey said, moving in front of her. "I mean, surely your good' friend could understand if you were to hang out with the most popular guy in school and his friends. Besides, if this is the same guy you're going to go to the Pitch with tomorrow, then you'll have spent plenty of time with him already. He'll understand."
Lily looked up. "I don't think so, actually. But, maybe if I talk to him first, he'll understand a little better."
"Oh, nonsense," Casey said, taking her hand. "You first years never understand when someone like me gives you the opportunity of a lifetime. Just come on, I promise, I'll take the blame for it. He'll not argue with me."
Lily couldn't really fight it, but she was very curious as to what he Slytherin common room looked like. Besides, James will understand. She'll still go to the game with him, tomorrow.
The two walked through the many passages of Hogwarts, pushing open the secret passageways and opening the paintings on the way. Finally, they came to a damp stone wall. Casey took both of Lily's hands in his own and smiled. "Casey Crane Rules," he said, and the door opened widely.
Lily walked into the long, low common room of the Slytherin tower, smiling nervously at all of the students who were scowling at her, then beaming at Crane. "It, uh, certainly isin here, isn't it?"
"Oh, what do you mean?" Crane asked.
"Just that, uheveryone's much morein the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Common rooms," Lily said.
"Oh, don't mind them," Crane laughed. "They just don't take too terribly kindly to mudbloods, that's all. I'm much more forgiving than they."
Lily looked concerned at Casey. "What is a mudblood?" she asked.
"It's a term for people like you. Wizards and Witches who don't come from Wizarding families."
"It's nota terribly nice way to put it, is it?" she said.
"Oh, don't worry, just ignore it. I look past such trivial things, and see the real beauty before me."
Lily let a small smile finally pass. She was still quite nervous, though, and not entirely sure of what to think of the rest of the people around her.
"Hey, there they are!" Casey yelled as several people walked out down the stairs of one of the towers. One of the boys had long, greasy black hair, and another had very blonde hair, and very nice robes on. "Lily Evans, meet Severus Snape, and Lucius Malfoy."
"Um, a pleasure," Lily said, holding her hand out. Snape took it and smiled, bowing slightly, but Malfoy ignored her all together.
"The Nimbus 1500's came in today. Have you had a look at them, yet?" Malfoy asked very straightforward.
"Not yet. Nothing to worry about, though. I'll be ready. The Gryffindor's seeker is still on a Shooting Star, can you believe that?" Crane laughed.
"You're a first year, right?" Snape asked very politely. "Are you getting along well?"
Lily smiled, glad to understand something being said, for once. She had heard of Quidditch, and James had excitedly told her a lot about it, but she didn't understand a thing these two were saying. "Oh, yes, so far so good. I have met some very nice people."
Casey quickly put his arm around Lily's shoulders, and she realized, for the first time, just how much bigger he was than she.
Lucius led the other three to a table, where they sat and drank some cups of tea that were brought to them by one of Malfoy's friends, Crabbe.
"So, Crane, why the mudblood?" Lucius asked, talking like she wasn't even sitting at the table.
"What are you kidding?" Crane laughed. "This little girl is the hottest thing in here. I get her, I can show everyone just how cool I am."
Lily looked back and forth, not really sure she was hearing what she thought. Snape must have sensed this, because he laughed a little and turned to her. "They're talking about Casey's new Nimbus, Lily, not you," Snape lied.
"Oh, um, okay," Lily said, not believing him. She felt a little insulted on the inside. She wasn't stupid, after all.
"Casey, maybe I should get back to Ravenclaw, now, I want to be sure to get up early to root you on," she said quietly.
"Oh, of course, milady," he said, standing and bowing. "Didn't I tell you these guys were great? I'll be sure to send you some green flags to wave tomorrow for us. Just pay me on Monday for them, okay?"
"Well, I–"
"Okay, goodnight," he said, leaning down and forcing a kiss on her lips. It was Lily's first kiss ever. She wasn't too happy about it, as it seemed awfully one-sided. And wet. "I know, I know, what an honor to be kissed by me," he said. "All the girls always say that."
"Goodnight," Casey said again, pushing her out of the wall and closing it behind her.
Lily shook her head, and stuck her tongue out. She turned and started to walk back through the school, but something caught her attention. A boy with longer, black hair was walking away, shaking his head. She thought, but she wasn't sure, his name was something likeSirius. Wasn't he a friend of James's?
***
"I wasn't sure if you would come," the boy known as Cumbers Crane said. He was a calm boy, his brown hair pulled back.
"Oh, yeah," Hermione laughed innocently, as she slipped the cloak off and sat down. "Believe me, when you hang around Harry long enough, you figure out every possible way around this place without getting caught."
"No, I knew you would make it, I just wasn't sure you would want to come," Cumbers said.
"Why not?" Hermione asked. "You asked me to, didn't you? At least you did that, I mean, Harry and Ron just assume I'll go places with them. I'm usually stuck doing it, though."
"Um, yeah," Cumbers said, looking out at the stars. "It must be something else, having friends like Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."
"Oh, no, not really," Hermione laughed. "They're more trouble than they're worth, trust me."
"Hermione, I just wanted to knowI mean, if you don't mind"
"What?" Hermione asked, smiling.
"I meanthis is hard to ask, but"
"Go on, it's okay," She said.
"Could youtell me what Harry's weakness is?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head in surprise, not sure what she was hearing.
"What?" Hermione asked loudly, not smiling anymore.
"Yeah, I mean, Ceddrick beat him two years ago, now there's a lot of pressure for me to do, it, too. Not to mention that Dad puts so much pressure on me to beat him, just because of what his dad did to him. He still hasn't gotten over me getting stuck with Hufflepuff and not Slytherin. But, maybe if I could just beat Potter, then maybe Dad would"
"How could you ask me that?" Hermione barked. "I thought that maybe you were asking me if I would"
"Would what?" Cumbers asked.
"Never mind," Hermione said, turning to leave.
"Oh, you thought I would ask you to go on a date or something?" Cumbers asked. "Oh, well, sure, I mean, I'll take you. I have to dump my other girlfriend, first, but if that's what it takes to find out his weakness, then no problem."
"I cannot believe you," Hermione said loudly. "I am leaving!"
Hermione turned and stormed off, pulling the cloak over her head.
Cumbers looked back to the stars, a frown on his face. "You won't get very far," he muttered, his face bright red. He looked down the hall. "Go get her," he whispered, opening a small orb he held in his pocket. Gray mist poured out from the orb and disappeared down the hall.
***
"Stupefy!" Ron Potter yelled.
The attack shot through the smoky woman, sending the fog swirling around. The fog quickly reformed, however, and the girl took her shape again.
"It's no good!" Liza yelled. "Run for it!"
Sara Weasley, Ron Potter, and Liza Crane all turned and ran down the hallway as fast as they could. They began screaming loudly in hopes that someone would hear them.
The fog swirled around them and stopped right in front of the three. The woman's form rose up out of the fog once again, and pointed at Ron.
"What!?" Ron yelled. "What do you want with me?"
The woman pointed her arms at either side of the hallway, and suits of armor that lined the walls began to shake violently. The woman snapped her arms together, and, with the movement, several suits flew to the air, smashing into one another. They started at one end of the hall, and started down.
When the suits next to Ron started to move, Sara jumped on him, knocking him down. The breastplate landed on top of them.
"Help me!" Liza yelled.
Ron shoved the breastplate off and jumped on top of her, knocking her down just as two more suits were about to hit. They slammed together, the parts all falling on top of the two and banging them up a little.
"Go!" Sara yelled, running past them
Wasting no time, Ron picked his glasses up off the ground and darted down the hall, making sure Liza was right behind him. They turned at the corner and ran behind a secret passageway, careful to jump over the missing step.
Finally, the slammed a portrait hole shut, and looked around. They were in one of the old, unused classrooms on the second floor of the building. "Finally," Sara said. "It won't find us in here."
The three started walking forward, looking around the dusty old classroom, breathing heavily. "Aw, nuts," Liza said, turning around. The fog was now starting to pour through the cracks at the portrait.
"How do we get out of here?" Ron asked.
"I think this is the first time anyone's been in here in a long time," Sara answered. "I don't think anyone would know how to get out."
The fog swarmed up around on a desk, and the dust that covered the desk began to swirl around. Slowly, but surely, the dust began to form the same woman that had appeared earlier as water and fog.
"Stupefy!" Sara yelled, shooting her wand at the dusty woman. The woman raised her hand and knocked the attack away with no effort.
"What the?" Ron asked. He and Liza pointed their wands at it and commanded an attack. Again, the dust creature just shook off the attack.
"Why won't our magic work?" Ron asked.
"I don't know!" Sara yelled. "We need to get out of here, though!"
Ron fumbled around in his robe. Finally, he found something in his pocket and pulled it out. He lifted it up to his face and read "Fred and George's exploding wands: Fun for the whole family."
He looked at Sara, Fred and George's niece, and shrugged. Ron tapped the wand twice and threw it at the dust creature. It exploded, sending the creature swirling around, as well as a few desks shooting out of the floor.
One of the desks slammed into Liza and knocked her out on the floor.
"Liza!" Ron yelled. The two ran to her side.
The dust creature reformed, and slowly made its way towards the young, dark-haired girl. It leaned down closely, almost looking concerned. It pointed its finger at the young woman.
"NO!" Ron yelled, moving himself in front of her. "You can't hurt her!"
Whisps of fog etched out from the dust creature's fingertips and floated around Ron and into Liza's nose. She instantly blinked and woke up, feeling fine.
Ron and Sara looked at each other, then to the creature.
The creature looked over its shoulder, then turned in surprise, and disapeared, the dust that had surrounded it falling harmlessly to the floor.
Snape, Longbottom, and Filch all pushed their way in through the portrait.
"What on earth are you three doing?" Snape yelled, looking around at the room that now had a small crater in it."
"We were attacked!" Sara yelled. "Liza was hurt!"
"What is going on, here?" Ron whispered to himself. "It saved her. It wants me dead, though?"
***
